In need of some fruit : )

Well, some form of this post has been in my drafts for over a month now. So I've made a few changes since then.  Not sure why I never posted it.  So, here are the family medical updates for those who are asking.  

Abigail:  She's  feeling much better for probably about 4-6 weeks now... YAY! She's gained back her energy, and I'm not having to peel her off the sofa and/or bed anymore.  She's much more perkier these days...PTL!

My mom:  Since her back surgery 5 months ago, she's continued to have lots of pain.  Her pain is in other areas though...hip and leg.  She's had numerous scans, xrays and MRI.  I feel so bad for her and completely understand her frustration. Her latest findings were a tear in a muscle (that are just now starting to show up on MRIs), a hip deformity that she's probably had since birth and hasn't known of it, and the need to continue physical therapy.  If the PT doesn't do the trick another surgery could be the only option for her (well, we know that a miracle could happen though!).  Thank you for those who have inquired about mom!

Me as of September 1: Hmmmm...well, I went back to the doctor today and as far as my blood work goes  it's all in the normal range (didn't have CPK tested today because of insurance issues....grrrrrr).  I've had more tingling in my arms and feet again the past couple of weeks for some reason...not sure why.  I have to be honest, I'm still struggling with just being weary, but I've called in some extra "yarping troops", and I know HE cares.  I know there's light at the end of the tunnel, but it seems I have some heavy duty shades on right now.   I'm VERY thankful for David who has pitched in with more home school- especially teaching history, our new art teacher we hired, and our new friend who's doing some music with the girls.  More on the bright side...I've been riding my bicycle (very short distances!) and walking down stairs has gotten easier.  I do feel I'm gaining some muscle strength but just not a lot.  I'm most grateful for what I can get!  

Me as of September 27: I went back to see Dr. Nathalie today since it's been about a month and need my blood levels tested again.  Still having insurance issues so we didn't even check my CPK and I haven't physio on my ankle for a month.  I am curious what the inflammation marker will show since my red rash has come back with a vengeance and is now on my shoulders, too.  My hands and feet continue to tingle, my hair continues to thin (and yes, I had my first hair cut EVER without begging her to thin out my hair!  I'm not needing any help in that area!), and am having that weird hurting/itching in my ears and jaw again....uggh.  I'm a tad discouraged with this little setback, but I know trust that I will be healed one day.  "His thoughts are not thoughts, neither are his ways ..."  

Tonight is Friday nite and are all my blood tests came back normal but one (the inflammation marker) is still pending. I'm most interested in that one (ESR) since the redness on my chest and shoulders have been so predominant the past few weeks.  I look forward to the next course of treatment and praying for wisdom for my doctors.  The redness dissipated quite a bit yesterday and today, and I directly contribute that to answered prayer!  I asked my family and some friends to please pray specifically about that : )

At the beginning of September I finally got my nerve up to ask Dr. Nathalie how long she thought it would be before I was somewhat "normal" again (wasn't sure I really wanted to know!).   She said that, of course, everyone responds to an illness and medication in different ways, but it would probably be a year.  (Now you know why I wasn't sure I really wanted to ask!)  So...I'm about 1/2 way  there, but praying for a miracle.  Also, praying for Joy, Strength and Patience- I'm a little low on the "fruits" right now if you know what I mean.  I'm so grateful to be living in our  new house/new location...it has lifted my spirits just being able to be more mobile!  My leg muscles HAVE to be getting stronger with my own built-in 4 story stair master!!  I was very blessed to have two sweet girlfriends over this week who encouraged my heart (THANK YOU, Jill and Rachel!) and one of them called the steps the stair master, and I thought that was so cute and so appropriate!

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, JOY, peace, PATIENCE, kindness. goodness, gentleness and self-control..."

"Being made conformable is rarely comfortable."  Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself:  Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit"

Who said 13 is an unlucky number?

So, yesterday morning happened to be one of the most thrilling times ever!  I have to back up a bit for it all to make sense though.  Thankfully, on our Gotcha Day for Audrey An I was impressed to ask for an email address of the sweet nanny who brought AA to us.  It took me awhile to muster up enough courage to email her- not sure why!  After we had AA for about 10 months I decided to email her.  I couldn't make out one character in the address (and you kinda need to know the complete address in order for it to go through!).  After 13 attempts (I tried every possible combination under the sun!) in 4 months and the enlistment of two other friends who speak chinese and helped me decipher "that one character" I got a response!  My email to the director was a thank you note with updated pictures of Audrey An.  I asked her to please forward it to her foster family. We wanted to make sure they knew of our gratitude for loving her and taking care of her until we were able to bring her into our family.

Well, on Christmas Eve of 2010 and New Year's Day of this year I received another email stating the foster family wanted to contact me.  I said that would be fabulous!  The orphanage worker forwarded them our email address, and we've had numerous email exchanges ever since.

About two months ago her foster sister (the one who emails us) added us on skype.  I completely panicked-again- not sure why!  I told her (via email) AA was asleep (which was true!) and asked when we could skype.  Although we've talked numerous times with AA about the possibility of skyping and hopefully visiting her foster family one day we had to prepare little AA's heart for it really happening!  ooh.my.word....I was thinking, "Could this miracle actually be happening????"  David told me to go with the moment and chat with her right then on line, but I was too concerned with how I looked!  I didn't want to meet AA's foster sister when I had my jammies on and my wet and wild hair sticking out everywhere...seriously.  So, I did what any normal person would do.  "Abby, hold the laptop and let me go put a normal shirt on at least.  Oh! and don't answer skype until I get back!  David, Get the camera!"  I wiped off my mascara that was underneath my eyes that made me look like I had been in a fight or something, took a deep breath, and by the time I got back she was off-line.  Maybe I missed the perfect opportunity, but honestly, I don't think my heart was quite ready for that!  We've talked and prayed with Audrey An about it before, but NOW it was like a real possibility- oh my!  So, David, Abs and I prayed that night together about all the hearts involved and the timing of the "meeting", signed off, and went to bed.  yeah, right!?!?!  Like I really could sleep that night!!!!

Okay, so fast forward to today!  We had set up a time to skype on Saturday, but it never happened for some reason.  THEN...as we were about to walk out the door, AA's foster sister called!  We "talked" for 50 minutes...amazing!  At first, they could see us, but we couldn't see them.  So we didn't know if it was the entire family seeing us or what.  Of course, we couldn't understand what they were saying and we had previously let them know we had downloaded a program that would translate our messaging in real time.  I had warned the foster family that AA only speaks english so they wouldn't be taken back with her lack of verbal communication with them.  We had some technical difficulties, but then their video feed came through and I started tearing up, then foster mommy was wiping tears, too.  It was absolutely precious and soooo surreal!

saying "ni hao" after two years!

Such a thrilling moment...I'll never forget it!  Audrey An seemed genuinely happy to see them...lots of smiles, and we all blew them kisses goodbye (until the next skype date!)!  She asked about their dog, baba (foster daddy) and Nai Nai (paternal grandmother).  I never really knew to believe her about the dog, but she did have a dog and we know the name now!  I'm sure that made them happy to hear her ask about something she remembered with them. 

So, I'd say 13 is not an unlucky number!  13 emails, lots of persistence, patience and perfect timing landed us this picture of Audrey An, foster sister, two foster brothers and foster mommy.  Tonight before dinner AA asked to say the blessing and she said, "Thank you for answering our prayer about my foster family."  wow...

What an absolute miracle and blessing from above!

Double Digit Girl...part 3!

Abigail wanted to wait until we had moved into the new place (and her new room!) to celebrate her birthday with her friends...is that some self control or what!  She had her first sleepover birthday party with 3 precious girls.  It was pretty cool to be celebrating with friends from 5 different countries!

Cheers for friends!  Cheers for birthdays!  Cheers for pizza!

Of course, crafty girl wanted to do something creative.  We couldn't find just plain flip flops here (go figure!) so a friend who was in the states brought me back some from Target...just in time for the party.  THANK YOU, Nancy!

Aren't they SO cute!!!

Awwww... enjoying the famous and favorite "Ms. Kristina's chocolate chip cookies"!

We already celebrated as a family on her bday, but AA wanted to get her sissy something to open at the party.  I love her giving attitude!  Abigail was thrilled because she had spotted the cute Children's Place tee earlier in the week : )

So hystercial...they are all in such a daze!  Abby is her daddy's girl.  David has a sweet memory growing up with his mom always baking or buying a pizza the night before his birthday, and he would eat cold pizza the morning of his birthday.  SO...that's what Abs and her peeps are doing, too!

4th address in 9 months!

Last week we moved...again.  Yes, that makes 4 addresses in 9 months if you count the two week hotel stay when we first moved to this country (which  I do because I had to pack and repack there, too!!!).  We're so excited to be in a house.  We're just trying to get used to some more little nuances.  Like what?  Glad you asked!  Here's a few:  gas stove and oven that you have to light yourself, turn on/off the water heater in order to bathe or do the dishes (oh, and yes the dishwasher is aka ME for the most part), walk four flights of stairs to get to your washing machine (that's outside on the terrace), store food items in a teeny tiny refrigerator, lock your front gate with a heavy duty padlock (and the motorbike) at all times, bathe in an oh-so-tiny bathtub, and keep all your toiletries outside of the bathroom because there is NO storage (and you "shower" down the inside to clean it), no closets (just wardrobes), remembering turn off the "air con" each time you leave the room (no central heat/ac...like the apartment)...not bad, just different.  I'm currently looking for a megaphone (lol!!) so my lungs will not wear out from shouting up/down 4 levels of rooms.  On the more positive side...we are SO CLOSE to everything now that we regularly go and do!  Our new landlord has been wonderful, and in fact, just dropped by to deliver new "pretty and pink" duvet covers for the each of the girl's rooms (yes, I said EACH of the girls rooms...Abigail is so thrilled to have her own space again!).  Other nice things in this country that we've experienced is calling the water guy, cable guy,  internet guy, gas company (nicer than saying the "gas man" like I did earlier today!), and there arrive in 5 minutes (or less!!!).  None of this, "yes, I'll put you on the list and maybe we'll get to you in 6 weeks...lol!).  Oh, and as I type the "water guy" (not the water guy-as in "bottled drinking water guy") just rang the bell adn delivered our water bill.  Well, I'm assuming that's who he was!  He said, "water!" and handed me a bill!  Don't get that in America either : )

We moved here with 9 suitcases and 4 backpacks....We moved across the lake with ummmmm, a few more items!!!  Let's just say we had to borrow 3 more LARGE suitcases and that didn't include toys and bikes.

David and Abigail are off to get the key and take the first load early Thursday morning.

David, watcha thinkin'???

Awww...helping with a smile on his face, too! THANK YOU, Dejan, Chrissy and Michael for all your help.  We couldn't have done it without you!

 I'm so grateful for some of our friends and David's co-workers who loaded up the "Two Men and a Truck" and unloaded our loot at the new place!  The unloading included having to walk all the stuff down an alley (about 50 meters or so from the street.  Oh my!  Did I just talk metric!?!) because most alleys are too narrow for cars/trucks.  Pretty sad when your 7 month pregnant friend (in the background) is more mobile than I am!  She wouldn't listen to me about "go and sit down, young lady!!" You're awesome, Chrissy!

And.... we made it!

But we didn't sit for too long...had to go to "Kitchen Street" to get some pots-n-pans! 

Our helper told us to go away because she could get better prices if we weren't standing there with her (which is so true!).  So....off we went.  Love her!

 So...you wanna take a peak inside?
Note: still trying to unpack and not much to decorate with!

 Abigail likes to think we moved into this house just because of the number (remember, she just turned double digits)!

 Although this doesn't really show it, but we park the motorbike and 4 bicycles to the right of the steps.  The other 500 pairs of flip flops are inside : )

 First floor view from the stairs... I found these two awesome framed chinese calligraphy pieces outside on the roof terrace that were about to be thrown out!  of course, I called the owner and asked her if she'd save them for us so we could hang them : )

First floor view from the kitchen...looking at the front door (notice the helmet and rain pancho rack to the right?  Also, under the steps is our "catch all" shoe rack.  Don't quite have those two things back "home").

 SECOND FLOOR: school room...

and master bedroom.  We flip flopped the 2nd and 3rd floors so mamma bear wouldn't have to climb so many stairs every day!  I love these two rooms because our kind landlord let us choose the paint color.

THIRD FLOOR: Audrey An's room (still waiting for her wardrobe to be delivered so her clothes are ALL over the floor...not in view of camera!).

Abigail's room (which is actually the "real" master bedroom...it's huge!).  Excuse the mess on the floor of this tween!

All the bathrooms look like this.  They all have this teeny tiny tub.  Audrey An can barely lay (or is it lie (?) down in it...again, everything is x-small in this country- lol!)

FOURTH FLOOR is a small landing where the dryer, iron board, and all our suitcases will live.  Take a right through the door and you'll find...

the rooftop terrace!  Yes, that's our washing machine on the left and the neighbor's "unmentionables" on the next terrace over : )  The yellow building is an elementary school.  The girls and I open up our windows in the morning to hear the children giggling, singing and playing.  It truly is a sweet sound!

Look to the right of the terrace and you'll find a very inviting pool...which as of this afternoon I'm trying to twist the manager's arm to give us access to it.  Hey, it's all about who ya know, right???

 

So,  there ya go.  The grand tour!  We're so thankful for the opportunity to move into a larger place, but most of all that it's CLOSER to markets, parks, etc. for a sick mama bear and her cubs.  It feels great to hop on our bikes and within two minutes be at the park so the girls can ride their bikes and run around.  This morning they couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces because they spent probably two hours in the courtyard (and it's probably only a 4x10 area!) washing all of our bicycles and daddy's motorbike.  Fresh air does wonder for the soul!  "This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us REJOICE and be glad in it."

I remember...

9/11...Ten years ago.  Yes, I remember.  I will never forget.  My first and only child I gave birth to was due on 9/11/2001, but thankfully she came three days early.  I had just been released from the hospital the day before.  David and I spent our first night in our tiny one bedroom apartment with our new roommate and bundle of joy on September 10th.  My parents were there for Abigail's birth as were other family members, but my mom was staying with us to help us get through the first few days with a newborn.  We borrowed an inflatable bed for mom to sleep on in our living room.  Abby's crib was at the foot of our bed and we used a chest of drawers as her changing table.  Exhausted from the night with a newborn I heard my mom quietly knocking on our bedroom door.  I heard this panic in her voice as she "yelled' in a whisper (trying not to wake me), "David!  David!  David...get up!  Something horrible has happened! An airplane crashed into the World Trade Center!"

Well, of course, we both jumped out of bed in a daze and we glued ourselves to the television for the rest of the day- no days- like every other American in disbelief.  I remember we all just were in shock, and I just wept- for me, some post pardum tears, some shock and sadness tears, and last but not least some "I don't want my husband to go back to work" tears.   Maybe this was selfish, but I just remember being so thankful Abigail made her debut early and David wasn't flying that day.  If she had come on her due date, he would have missed her birth due to all the planes being grounded.  Just a few weeks later, David was furloughed from his job-like so many others.  A change in career plans.  Yes, we remember.

Double Digit Girl...part 2

Since I have super crafty girl we decided to take her to the pottery village on her special day.  We went with some special friends and they all happen to be in art class together, too!  We decided to be adventurous and make a roundtrip on the local bus.  I'm glad we did!  As my mom always said to me growing up when we are on vacation, "We've got to experience the local flavor!"  Well,  we added one more flavor to the very colorful ice cream cone we've been enjoying this year!!!

We started off the day before getting new glasses...of course, we got them on "Glasses Street".

I had had visions for months what a bus ride would be like, and this....actually was not it!  It wasn't too crowded.  It didn't have AC, but it was actually bearable with the windows down.

The money taker...so safe riding on this oh-so-sturdy plastic stool!

We're almost there!

We're ready to get messy.  Give me some clay, please!

lots of blue and white

sweet friends!

more craftiness...

They all made bracelets, too!

On our way home...no, we didn't ride this mode of transportation.

We took this, and school had just let out...yippee! 

THIS was more of what I had envisioned...shoulder to shoulder people and them all staring at these blonde headed peeps.  We especially got some glares and giggles when we broke out singing "Happy Birthday!"  : )

 the countryside...headed "home"

Double Digit Girl!!!

Happy birthday to my precious Abigail! Where have the last 10 years gone???  You're beautiful on the outside and the inside.  I love your caring heart towards others and the way you look our for your little sister.  We are all blessed to have you in our lives.  You're talented in so many things.  It's been SO fun to see your creative side develop even more in this past year.  Hope you have a fantastic, super duper, happy birthday!!!

We started off her special day with pancakes and a virtual birthday party with Nana & Papa D! Then Aunt Debs, Uncle Mark, Steven & J-man skyped!  It's hard to believe the Party Princess crown has been worn for TEN years!!!

Audrey An couldn't wait to give her big sister the hair clips and nail polish she picked out...looks like they were a  hit!

More polish from Aunt Debs...woo hoo!!! A tween can not get enough of the girlie stuff!

Let the strumming begin! AA was a little miffed that SHE didn't get a guitar : (

I love you!  I'll be waiting for my "Mom of the Year" award declaring it a NO SCHOOL DAY...lol!!  Looking forward to lunch and the pottery village today!